Chhattisgarh Leaders Raided, Congress Says "Third-Rate Politics": 10 Facts

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided at least 17 locations in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh

New Delhi: Bhupesh Baghel, the Chief Minister of Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh, has attacked the BJP as "frustrated" after a central agency raided the homes of his party colleagues - ahead of the Congress's plenary session - over alleged corruption in coal levy.

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"Today the ED (Enforcement Directorate) raided the houses of many of my colleagues, including the treasurer of the Chhattisgarh Congress, the former vice-president of the party and an MLA," Mr Baghel tweeted.
"There is a Congress convention in Raipur in four days. Our spirit can't be broken by stopping our leaders... the BJP is frustrated with the success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the truth of Adani being exposed. This raid is an attempt to divert attention. The country knows the truth. We will fight and win," Mr Baghel tweeted.
The Congress called the ED raid "third-rate politics" and claimed its Bharat Jodo Yatra, a Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir march led by party MP Rahul Gandhi that ended recently, got excellent feedback from citizens. Mr Baghel's swipe at the Adani group, which the Congress claims enjoys a direct access to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also alluded to the firm's recent troubles over allegations of fraud by a US-based short seller.
The ED alleged that of the total kickbacks in the coal levy, Rs 52 crore went to the senior leader of a political party and Rs 4 crore to some Chhattisgarh MLAs.
At least 17 locations were searched this morning. These include the homes of Durg MLA Devendra Yadav, Chhattisgarh Congress treasurer Ramgopal Agrawal, chairman of building workers' welfare board Sushil Sunny Agrawal and state Congress spokesperson RP Singh.
The ED has alleged a massive scam that charges an illegal levy of Rs 25 for every tonne of coal transported in Chhattisgarh by a cartel involving bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians and middlemen.
The Congress and other opposition parties have alleged the Modi government has been sending central agencies to harass their leaders. In the most recent cases, the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are looking into alleged corruption in Delhi and Telangana, where the BJP is not in power.
The Chhattisgarh assembly election is due later this year. The Congress has long alleged the central agencies tend to get "active" when elections are near. "PM doesn't unleash ED where it's required. They have a fair and lovely scheme. Those on whom ED was unleashed in the past became innocent after joining the BJP. The Congress president described in Rajya Sabha what was later expunged as BJP washing machine," Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said.
Nine people have been arrested in the coal levy case so far. They are state bureaucrat Chaurasia; Suryakant Tiwari and his uncle Laxmikant Tiwari; Chhattisgarh cadre Indian Administrative Service officer Sameer Vishnoi, and coal businessman Sunil Agrawal.
At the three-day Congress plenary starting Friday, the party will discuss ways to strengthen opposition unity. The Congress has long maintained there can be no opposition unity without the Congress. The meeting will also decide whether the party will hold an election to select the Congress Working Committee chief.